Sheathing and roofing for railway-cars



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT FULTON AND ALEXANDER DE LAND, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

SHEATHING AND ROOFING FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 267,784, dated November21, 1882, Application filed July 27, 1882. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that we, ROBERT FULTON andALEXANDER DE LANO, of Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State ofMichigan, have invented new and useful Improvements in Sheathing andRoofing for Railway-Oars; and we do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description thereof.

The nature of this invention relates to certain new and usefulimprovements in outside coverings for railway-car bodies, by means ofwhich a cheap fire and weather proof roofing and'sheathing is obtained.The employment of wood pulp is preferred, although rag or any other kindof pulp may be used, such as is employed in the manufacture of an yofthe.

paper or board stocks.

Our improved sheathing will be found valuable for the car lining andfloor, as well as for the outside, and for the roof the proper camber isgiven to the sheets before they leave the mill on forms of the propercurve.

The pulp is prepared in the usualway, and in passing from theFourdrinier or other machine is cut into sheets of the desired size. Thesheets are now in a flat form, ready. to be used for the sides, ends,and bottom of the car-body. To give the proper camberto the roofsh eetsthey are placed upon suitable forms and dried on the forms, so that theyare then ready for use.

In order to make this sheathing fire and weather proof, the pulp istreated with the following materials before it is sent to the machine:four (4) parts of alum and one (1) part of white soap are dissolved inabout eight (8) parts of water, then one-quarter part of glue andone-half part of gum-arabic are dissolved in sufficient water for thepurpose, and then thoroughly mixed with the alum-and-soap solution. Thissolution is then mixed thoroughly with the pulp, which is then finishedinto sheets of any desired size, in the usual way of finishingpulp-board; or the board may be made without the admixture of thesolution named, and in the usual way. Then to render it fire and weatherproof the board is immersed in a bath composed of the above namedsolution, and then dried in flat form, except those that are designed tobe used for These are dried upon the forms employed to give them thecorrect curve or camber required. The size of the car being given, thesheets are made to fit without waste or cutting to fit after they aresent from the mill, except, perhaps, such fitting as may be madenecessary by the position of doors and windows, and even this may be.avoided by giving the mill the correct diagram of the car, so that allthe pieces may go right to place without trouble.

This sheathing will be foundvery durable and much less expensive thanthat ordinarily employed for the purpose, While much saving will beobtained in the weight of the car. This sheathing will also be foundvaluable in many other places besides on cars.

We are aware that the use of alum, soap, glue, and gum arable in the artof water and fire proof paper making is not new, and we therefore do notclaim the same broadly.

What we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. As an article of manufacture, fire and weather proof sheathingmadefrom pulp treated with the herein-described solutiois of alum, soap,glue, and gum-arabic before the same is finished into sheets,substantially as set forth.

2. The herein-described process of rendering pulp-boards fire andweather proof, which consists in soaking the finished board in thedescribed solutions of alum, soap, glue, and gum-arabic, and in thendrying the same in any desired shape for use, substantially as setforth.

In witness that We claim the above as our invention We hereunto set ourhands this 20th day of June, 1882.

ROBERT FULTON. ALEXANDER DE LANO.

Witnesses:

E. SGULLY, CHARLES J. HUNT.

